Honeymoon Part 1: Barcelona Trip Report. WARNING: it's a bit long :)

Longtime chow stalker, first time poster. First of all wanted to thank the many contributors to this board and the France board as many of the places we went to on our Honeymoon were direct recommendations from this site. We had an amazing time eating our way around Barcelona and wanted to show our thanks via a trip report of our culinary adventures. Hope you enjoy!

Day 1El Vaso de Oro - seared foie gras & onions, padron peppers, patatas brava, granjero sandwich, steak and foie gras, 4 beers. 62E. Outrageously good tapas bar, filled with friendly locals. Packed at 3pm when we walked in(we started out standing), had slowed done by the time we left around 4:30ish.

Day 2Cafe con leche and a small croissant each from a little cafe near our apt for breakfast. We knew our upcoming lunch was going to be a feast and made sure we had room to fully indulge.

Took the 1 hour train ride from Barcelona north along the beautiful coastline to Sant Pol de Mar. Carme Ruscadella's Sant Pau*** - 2pm reservation. What entailed was quite easily the BEST meal of our lives. We've ate at fine dining establishments all over the US, especially in our hometown of San Francisco. However, this meal made all others pale in comparison, even in direct relation to another 3 star Michelin we've had the pleasure of dining at, the French Laundry. Our meal at Sant Pau was pure magic. We decided we'd be hard pressed to find a more beautiful setting paired with a more delicious meal anywhere else in the world. Our table was front and center overlooking their garden patio with the blue ocean almost close enough to reach out and touch stretching just beyond the garden to the horizon. We did the tasting menu which consisted of a palate awakening gazpacho-like broth called Oliaigo, followed by four amuse bouche tastes ("Bloody Mary",mini vegetable pie,rice & Roquefort fried croquette, and vegetable and pork sausage) presented in a mini stove, 5 seafood dishes (king prawn, crawfish, squid, and parrot fish), two meat choices (iberio pork & challans duck), of which we decided to supplement and get both each (it's our honeymoon we reasoned!), 3 creatively different preparations of Capricho cheese, a palate refresher of aromas of Montserrat "snow", two wonderfully creative and playfully plated desserts, finally followed by a beautiful two-tiered tray of mignardises, which we happily indulged upon in their beautiful garden. We opted to let the sommelier guide us and ordered the wine pairing. There was not a single dish or pairing that was a miss. Each dish's flavors we're impeccable and each pairing fully enhanced and complemented the subtleties of each dish perfectly. Easily the best pairing we've had. Words really do no justice to the dining experience. It is magical and transcendental and a must visit for food and wine lovers. Our meal finished just after 6pm and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach as we sat in the garden was the perfect finishing touch to a meal of a lifetime. 146E tasting menu + 46E meat supplement, 57E wine pairing + 6E supplement (11 generous pourings where in fact the sommelier topped us off multiple times as well), sparkling & still water, coffees. 479E total.

Day 3Breakfast at La Boqueria. Pinoxto Bar - Walked up at 8:30am and got the last two seats at the bar. White beans and baby squids, potato and onion tortilla, and bread. Walked around the market taking in the sights and smells of all the amazing meat, seafood, and produces. Stumbled upon El Quim and decided we were still hungry. Gambas and razor clams. Don't remember how much we spent at each place at the La Boqueria, but Pinoxto was definitely less expensive and we enjoyed the food more and actually returned for the white beans and squids on another day, they were just so good.

Tickets - 7:30pm reservation made 2 months in advance to the date. The waitress explained there was an option where they would surprise us and bring us tasting sized portions of many things on the menu. That sounded great to us and the experience began. Watermelon infused with sangria, the Olive-S, joselito's gran reserva iberian ham, mini manchego cheese "airbags", tomato salad with gazpacho jello, avocado cannelloni with crab, oysters with oriental vinaigrette, tuna belly tartar with radish and plum, macerated prawns, truffled egg, mini pork sandwich, confit potatoes with boiled iberian ham, liquid ravioli of payoyo cheese, the animated forest, chocolate lava balls, catalan cream role. 2 beers, bottle of Cava, still water. 210E.

Day 4On our way to Parc Guell, stopped right on the bus line at Catalana Cerveseria. Walked in at 12pm. Various Montaditos of iberian ham, foie and roquefort, seafood salad, smoked salmon, and iberian ham/lettuce/mayo, and sauteed mushrooms. 1 beer and 1 glass of wine. 40E. Delicious and inexpensive. We ended up going here 3 times over the trip for various snacks and delicious inexpensive white and red wine glasses and cold "Claras". Really a great place, easy to get into for the most part, due to it's large size. Only waited once for 15 minutes. Tried a lot of the menu and liked everything.

Neighborhood tapas crawl:Sagardi - walked in at 7pm. Various Montaditos as this is a serve yourself Montadito bar. Standout was the smoked salmon with minced garlic and dill. 4 glasses of house white. 33E.Taller de Tapas - walked in at 8:30pm. tomato bread, fried squid, gambas, seared onions and foie, Bottle of Rioja red. 47E.

Cal Pep - walked up at 7:15pm and there was already a big line. First day back from 3 week vacation for Cal Pep. Ended up narrowly missing the first seating at the bar. 45 minutes later and we had our seats in the middle of the bar. Tomato bread, clams, assorted fried fish and squid, tuna tartar, fried artichokes, grilled monkfish and vegetables, 4 beers, 4 glasses of cava. 100E. Great fun. Tasty simple food where they let the freshness of the ingredients shine. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience.